Alborosie – Dub Clash
Reviewed by Sadie O., 12/10/10
Superooperooper dubby roots rock Reggae. Mostly entirely instrumental, although there are smidges of woobly vocals here and there. Mostly kinda downtempo and thickly dubbed up. It’s all pretty similar, really, but all really good. Alborosie really knows his way around a riddim and production – is there anything the man can’t do? He even dances well, and apparently makes a mean plate of pasta. Dubwise!
1. 3:20 ***downtempo, classic riddim with a fine horn line that dissolves into echo-laden drum and bass.
2. 3:30 ***dubby dubby dubby dub… slow and… reaaaaaallllyy dubby. Nyahbinghi and flutes and scratchers and dub. Ends with squeebles.
3. 2:58 ***downtempo skank with bits of Alborosie’s “Kingston Town” vocals left in.
4. 4:02 ***keyboard flourishes, then spacy bassy dub.
5. 3:52 **midtempo and a bit less spacy, although I might just be getting used to it.
6. 4:12 ***very slow, echoed out to the max. Melodica, because it is a tribute to Pablo, after all.
7. 2:39 ***mid-uptempo bubble, kinda perky.
8. 4:26 **downtempo bubble, pretty happy dubby. Fades to bass alone for a bit.
9. 4:42 ****horns and syndrums, “Baltimore” and drama.
10. 4:37 ***way slow version of a classic riddim, bits of vocals from outer space.
11. 3:02 ***menace and clinks. And squeebles, oh yes, there will be squeebles.
12. 3:48 ***plop plop fizz fizz…. ooooOOOooo
13. 3:18 **very slow one drop, pretty guitars floating by.
14. 2:57 **slow roly poly bubble, bits of horn and hardardt.
15. 4:05 ***midtempo with swingy syncopation.
16. 4:52 ***kinda uptempo! Kinda terrestrial! Well, now maybe not so much…